Russian Police Crackdown on Illegal Cryptocurrency Mining Farm

Police in Russia have developed a case against two organizers of a cryptocurrency mining farm in Orenburg, according to Irina Volk of the Ministry of the Interior of the Russian Federation, RIA56, a Russian news source, reported.

More than 6,000 pieces of computer equipment were discovered at the former plant of the RTI which police believe was a mining farm. Police had installed agents at the site. The bitcoin farm used 8 million kilowatts per hour without taking into account power consumption.

Police found equipment connected to the power grid, as well as power supply cables leading to a nearby substation.

Suspects Identified

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Orenburg region identified suspects involved in the crime, Volk said. They included two company executives working in the factory. The criminal case is based on property damage.

A mining farm was reported in early March, but police did not comment on it at the time. Engineers suspected large-scale theft of electricity and alerted law enforcement, who discovered powerful computer equipment they suspected was used for cryptocurrency mining.

Police have not assessed the scale and profitability of the farm or the amount of damage caused.

Also read: Russian engineers caught using state supercomputer to mine bitcoins

In March, sources claimed a mining workshop in Orenburg was the largest in the Volga Federal District. According to unofficial sources, unknown persons engaged in electricity theft and “grew” tens of millions of rubles worth of cryptocurrency.